The Role of Flagship Firms, External Actors and Support Institutions in the Emergence of Successful Export Activities in Brazil: Two Industrial Cluster Studies

This paper examines the process by which firms in a cluster start to export based on systemic interactions and the process of diffusion of exporting as a business strategy within the cluster. Two Brazilian manufacturing industries are studied, and within each one a geographic cluster was identified as the origin of dynamic export growth. Players in each industrial cluster, as well as other significant players, were interviewed or identified using secondary sources, and extensive secondary data research was undertaken to study clusters’ historical development. Detailed analysis and a comparison of the two experiences made it possible to draw some general conclusions concerning the similarities and differences between the two clusters in terms of the adoption and diffusion of exporting.Cluster, Exports, Innovation, Brazil

A CSR and communication strategy for Worten

Field lab in marketingThe aim of this work project is to suggest a corporate social responsibility and communication strategy with a central element: a social responsibility mechanic focused on the Christmas period for Worten, the retail leader in home appliance and consumer electronics in Portugal. To identify consumers’ perceptions regarding corporate social responsibility, Worten and the willingness to participate in the proposed activities, qualitative and quantitative researches were conducted within the adoption of the Creative Business Idea model. The strategy proposal is based on the support of local communities and of social strata vulnerable to the current crisis through the partnership with a national NGO with local delegations. Cause promotion, cause-related marketing and community volunteering are the tools used to pursue the CSR strategy proposal

Antibodies Targeting Poly-N-Acetyl Glucosamine Protect Against the Intracellular Pathogen, Rhodococcus Equi

Rhodococcus equi is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes pyogranulomatous pneumonia in foals <6 months of age. Why foals are highly susceptible to R. equi is unknown. R. equi pneumonia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for foals and continues to be an economic burden for the horse industry world-wide. A commercial vaccine against R. equi is lacking. We determined the immunogenicity and efficacy of maternal vaccination with the highly conserved microbial surface polysaccharide, β-1→6-linked poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (PNAG) in foals against intrabronchial infection with R. equi and characterized the functional properties associated with antibodies to R. equi. We vaccinated 19 pregnant mares 6 and 3 weeks prior to foaling with PNAG and experimentally infected their foals at ~4 weeks of age with ~10^6 cfu of R. equi. Eleven of 12 (92%) foals born to immunized mares remained healthy, whereas 6 of 7 (86%) foals born to unvaccinated controls developed pneumonia (P=0.0017). Antibodies to PNAG mediated killing of extracellular and intracellular R. equi in the presence of complement and neutrophils by PNAG recognition on infected cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from immune and protected foals released higher levels of interferon-γ in response to PNAG compared to controls, indicating vaccination also induced an antibody-dependent cellular release of immune cytokines. To determine the relative function in immunity to R. equi, sub-isotypes IgGv1 and IgGv4/7 were enriched using a protein G column from PNAG hyperimmune or nonimmune plasmas. They were compared in their ability to deposit complement component 1 (C1) on to PNAG and to mediate opsonophagocytic killing (OPK) by neutrophils. Sub-isotype IgGv1 from PNAG hyperimmune plasma had the highest ability to deposit C1 onto PNAG (P<0.05) and to elicit OPK by neutrophils (P<0.05). These results show maternal vaccination with PNAG generates antibodies that are transferred via colostrum that protect foals against the intracellular pathogen, R. equi by facilitating antibody-mediated opsonic killing, and that sub-isotype IgGv1 targeting PNAG appears to be a correlate of protective immunity. Additionally, vaccination appeared to modulate interferon-γ release in response to PNAG on R. equi, suggesting that PNAG antibodies derived from colostrum might mediate cell immunity

SkILL - a Stochastic Inductive Logic Learner

Probabilistic Inductive Logic Programming (PILP) is a rel- atively unexplored area of Statistical Relational Learning which extends classic Inductive Logic Programming (ILP). This work introduces SkILL, a Stochastic Inductive Logic Learner, which takes probabilistic annotated data and produces First Order Logic theories. Data in several domains such as medicine and bioinformatics have an inherent degree of uncer- tainty, that can be used to produce models closer to reality. SkILL can not only use this type of probabilistic data to extract non-trivial knowl- edge from databases, but it also addresses efficiency issues by introducing a novel, efficient and effective search strategy to guide the search in PILP environments. The capabilities of SkILL are demonstrated in three dif- ferent datasets: (i) a synthetic toy example used to validate the system, (ii) a probabilistic adaptation of a well-known biological metabolism ap- plication, and (iii) a real world medical dataset in the breast cancer domain. Results show that SkILL can perform as well as a deterministic ILP learner, while also being able to incorporate probabilistic knowledge that would otherwise not be considered

Mapas concetuais sobre a digestão (2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico)

Dissertação de mest., Ensino do 1.º e 2.º ciclos do Ensino Básico, Escola Superior de Educação e Comunicação, Univ. do Algarve, 2013O presente relatório foi elaborado como parte integrante da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º CEB, com o objetivo de refletir e avaliar o meu percurso formativo e profissional, bem como as situações de aprendizagem, desafios, processos e desempenhos do quotidiano profissional experienciado. A capacidade de tirar partido de todas as situações vividas na PES, tanto das observações, como das práticas pedagógicas, permitiu a construção da minha identidade profissional, como também o desenvolvimento de um olhar mais critico, capaz de questionar e refletir sobre todo o processo profissional. Deste percurso formativo e profissional surgiu uma problemática de investigação: como conseguem os professores refletir sobre a aprendizagem dos alunos e inferir sobre aspetos relacionados com o ensino, através da elaboração de mapas concetuais realizados pelos alunos, no âmbito de uma unidade didática Digestão e sistema digestivo do Homem? Os mapas concetuais obtidos, antes e após o ensino formal da unidade didática, são interpretados através da análise estrutural de mapas concetuais e posteriormente através da prova de Associação Olmstead-Tukey

Structure to function studies in UDP-glucose dehydrogenases and nitroreductases

The thesis is divided into two parts corresponding to structural studies on two different proteins. The first part concerns the study of two UDP-glucose dehydrogenases (UGDs) from Sphingomonas elodea ATCC 31461 and Burkholderia cepacia IST 408, both involved in exopolysaccharide production. Their relevance arises because some of these bacterial exopolysaccharides are valuable as established biotechnological products, the former case, whilst others are highly problematic, when used by pathogens in biofilm formation over biological surfaces, as the latter case, namely in the human lungs. The goal of these studies is to increase our knowledge regarding UGDs structural properties, which can potentiate either the design of activity enhancers to respond to the increased demand of useful biofilms, or the design of inhibitors of biofilm production, in order to fight invading pathogens present in several infections. The thesis reports the production and crystallisation of both proteins, the determination of initial phases by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) in S. elodea crystals using a seleno-methionine isoform, and phasing of B. cepacia crystals by molecular replacement (MR) using the S. elodea model, as well as the refinement, structural analysis and comparison between the several UGDs structures available during this work.(...

The impact of endocrine disruptors on spermatogonia survival: the case of methoxychlor

Endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are xenobiotics that have the ability to interfere with hormone synthesis, secretion and metabolism, thus affecting the reproductive system. Today we are ubiquitously exposed to these compounds through various pathways, such as ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption. Methoxychlor (MXC) is an organochloride pesticide with moderate persistence in the environment capable of adversely affecting spermatogenesis, deregulating the development of germ cells, and interfering with sperm function. Among germ cells, type B spermatogonia are the first differentiated germline cell population and the initiator of the spermatogenic process. However, little is known about the role of MXC in modulating the survival pathways of type B spermatogonia. In the present dissertation, the impact of MXC on survival/apoptosis, and on the antioxidant defences of spermatogonia, was studied. For this purpose, a type B spermatogonia cell line, the GC-1spg, was cultured in the presence (5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 µM) and without MXC for 48 hours. The effect of MXC on GC-1spg viability was analysed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) bromide assays. Moreover, protein expression of key regulators of apoptosis, estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ERa and ERß, respectively) and androgen receptor (AR) was analysed by Western Blot and the activity of antioxidant enzymes and caspase-3 by colorimetric assays. The obtained results demonstrated that MXC decreases the viability of GC-1spg cells in a concentration-dependent manner, increasing the activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and caspase-3. Despite the increase in the Bax (pro-apoptotic protein)/Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic protein) ratio, there was a decrease in caspase-8 and p53 expression in GC-1spg exposed to MXC. In addition, MXC treatment decreased the expression of both estrogen receptors (ERa and ERß) and AR in GC-1spg. The present study demonstrates the modulation of GC1-spg apoptosis by MXC, being the first to demonstrate the expression of ERß in GC-1spg and to show the impact of MXC on the expression of these sex steroid receptors. By investigating the mechanisms and pathways by which EDCs exert harmful effects on male reproductive health, the present study widens the horizons for the identification of targets for developing new strategies for preserving male fertility and eventual treatments.Os desreguladores endócrinos (EDCs) são xenobióticos que têm a capacidade de interferir na síntese, secreção e metabolismo hormonal, podendo assim afetar o sistema reprodutor. Hoje em dia estamos ubiquamente expostos a estes compostos e por diversas vias, tais como ingestão, inalação e absorção dérmica. O metoxicloro (MXC) é um pesticida organoclorado com persistência moderada no meio ambiente, capaz de afetar adversamente a espermatogénese, desregulando o desenvolvimento das células germinativas, e interferindo com a função espermática. De entre as células germinativas, as espermatogónias do tipo B são a primeira população celular diferenciada da linha germinativa e as iniciadoras do processo espermatogénico. No entanto, pouco se sabe sobre o papel do MXC na modulação das vias de sobrevivência das espermatogónias do tipo B. Na presente dissertação, foi estudado o impacto do MXC na sobrevivência/apoptose assim como nas defesas antioxidantes das espermatogónias. Para tal, uma linha celular de espermatogónias do tipo B, as GC-1spg, foi colocada em cultura na presença (5, 10, 25, 50 e 100 µM) e ausência de MXC, durante 48 horas. O efeito do MXC na viabilidade das células GC-1spg foi analisado através de ensaios de bromido de 3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol2-il)-2,5-difeniltetrazólio (MTT). A expressão proteica de reguladores chave da apoptose, dos recetores de estrogénios alfa e beta (ERa e ERß, respetivamente) e do recetor de androgénios (AR) foi analisada pela técnica de Western Blot e a atividade de enzimas antioxidantes e da caspase-3 por ensaios colorimétricos. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que o MXC diminui a viabilidade das células GC1spg de uma forma dependente da concentração, aumentando a atividade das enzimas antioxidantes superóxido dismutase e glutationa peroxidase, e da caspase-3. Apesar do aumento da razão Bax (proteína pró-apoptótica)/Bcl-2 (proteína anti-apoptótica), verificou-se uma diminuição da expressão da caspase-8 e da p53 nas GC-1spg expostas ao MXC. O tratamento com MXC diminuiu a expressão de ambos os recetores de estrogénios (ERa e ERß) e do AR nas GC-1spg. O presente estudo evidencia a modulação da apoptose nas células GC1-spg pelo MXC, sendo o primeiro a demonstrar a expressão do ERß nesta linha celular GC-1spg e a mostrar o impacto do MXC na expressão destes recetores de esteroides sexuais. Através da investigação dos mecanismos e vias pelos quais os EDCs exercem os efeitos nefastos na saúde reprodutora masculina, o presente estudo abre horizontes para a identificação de alvos para desenvolvimento de novas estratégias de preservação da fertilidade masculina e eventuais tratamentos

Vodafone retail as na employer brand

CEM